Guardian of Courage
by JellyFishLover
Summary: My first actual public piece of fanfiction! A new spirit gets introduced to the Guardians and starts to win their hearts over with her antics and ability to move past pain. She brings each Guardian a piece of themselves they've been missing and draws them all closer together as a family.
1. The Beginning

**Author's Note: I don't own Rise Of The Guardians or any of its characters.**

**Please write a review and tell me what you think. Enjoy!**

Her nails dug into the dirt floor as an array of feelings passed through her. Guilt, shame, and an extreme amount of pain riddled her mind; excruciating pain. Her body was an assortment of bruises, old and fresh wounds, long ago healed scars, and red irritated skin. Electricity charged in the air before a high powered jolt shot though her. But she didn't make a sound- she couldn't. Weeks of torture made her voice go raw with overuse. Screaming didn't change anything anyway.

Darkness reached toward her with freezing cold hands but she could hardly flinch anymore. For 150 years she had roamed the world with little care for her surroundings. None of the other spirits paid much attention to her and she preferred it that way. At least until the day he came creeping by. Now she could only hope and wish somebody, anybody, might notice her sudden absence and start looking for her.

Just breathing wracked her small frame with pain. Escape was a lost dream; millions of failed tries made her finally give up, but she hated giving him the satisfaction of her despair. He loved to drink in her fear, the way she recoiled at the sound of his voice or the sight of his black shoes that blended in with the shadows so well. Light flickered from the tunnel of his entrance and she shut her eyes as the brightness blinded her. Pitch Black entered with a small lit torch and he was positively gleaming with child-like excitement.

"Let's get started."

Her screams echoed through the lair that night, so hoarse, that when everything was said and done a small pool of blood lay innocently in front of her face. Day and night blurred together in the passing shadows as she dealt with the ghosting pains of burns and other ailments. The sporadic jolts of electricity didn't help her healing process. Constant torture, lack of food and drink, sleep deprivation- she was slowly losing her sanity.

-3 Years Later-

The few hours of sleep she was able to get were riddled with nightmares and restlessness. Her senses dulled over time in the claustrophobic cage she was kept in. The rusty bars mocked her in her hour of consciousness before the pain induced activities would begin again. She felt suffocated by the stale air and could never smell anything but a mixture of dirt, blood, and her own fear but things were about to change. This time when Pitch entered the small cave in his vast underground tunnels, no pain came.

He leered disgusted at her, shifting from shadow to shadow. His nightmares pranced by the tunnel entrance while she just lay there, willing death to come but too stubborn to let it take her.

"Pitiful. Completely useless. I have no need for you anymore."

She was barely aware of what the nightmares were doing as the lifted her up and dragged her out of the lair. They dropped her in a random place and basically left her for dead. Her multi-colored eyes stared blankly up at the starry night sky. The moon shone brightly as its attention was brought to the nearly gone spirit. She blinked at how bright it was and couldn't help but think how beautiful it was- almost worth every day of torture to see again. Her vision began to fade and she tried to blink the nonexistent tears from her eyes. Broken body sprawled on the open earth as she let out her last breath, she couldn't help but think one last thought.

_I'm still not broken._


	2. Chapter One

She didn't know much about who she was, but she did know her name. The Man in the Moon told her. _Sparrow._ But that was all he told her. The rest she figured out for herself, head first and millions of unanswered questions. It wasn't until almost 500 years later that MiM bothered revealing anything else.

***North's Workshop***

The big five as they were now called were having a meeting at North's Workshop and catching up of what the others had been up to. After 150 years of being a Guardian, Jack Frost seemed to be accepted by other spirits as well as the other Guardians. There was more of an effort to meet without chaos being the reason why. Pitch had been defeated and not a word had been spoken of him since although there was the occasional inkling that he might be up to something.

Tooth was talking a hundred miles a minute to her fairies as she gave them orders to gather teeth. Bunny and North were "discussing" amongst themselves about which holiday was more important, as usual. Sandy held his eggnog close in hand to ward off any elf stupid enough to try getting it while Jack floated around the room. This was one of their more slow meetings but it was still nice to be in the same room as their friends.

A strong moonbeam shone through the window catching Sandy's attention. He quickly signed trying to get the other Guardians' attention. Jack just happened to look over and see the distressed sandman.

"What's wrong Sandy?" His question got the attention of the other guardians who looked at Sandy pointing up at the moon.

"Man in Moon! Old friend." North exclaimed.

"What do you think he wants?" Jack asked floating down next to Sandy.

The bright moonbeam shone to reveal the large crystal stand used not long ago to pick Jack Frost as a Guardian. The Guardians shared a look amongst each other at the implications this meant.

"A new Guardian?" Tooth flittered excitedly.

"Who do you think it is?" Bunny was mildly interested.

Sandy began signing for so many different spirits that nobody could keep up.

The beam shone brighter and an image began to form of a female figure with ears and a tail the Guardians couldn't make out but looked like a cat.

"Who is this?" North was stumped.

Tooth and Bunny couldn't come up with anyone and even Sandy came up short.

"Jack? Do you know who it might be?" Tooth asked.

Jack stared at the image as it changed into a hilly clearing surrounded by woods and not far from a small town about the size of Burgess. Recognition shone in his eyes. "I know where."

Once again Bunny was roped into brining the new guardian in but with Jack's help. They made their way to a rural town in the middle of absolutely nowhere. As they passed through town, the two spirits realized they were starting at the to-be guardian the entire time. She was watching through a fence at two children playing in the yard with their new puppy. They ran inside when their mother called for them and both Guardians recognized the look of longing on her face before she turned to walk away. Bunny motioned the Yetis into action who quickly caught up with her and tossed the red bag, with her in it, through the portal before following close behind.

Using the tunnels, Bunny and Jack made it back to the workshop just as the Yetis jumped through the portal after the bag. North went to open it but before he could a flash of red shot out and between his legs. The Guardians went on high alert as Yetis and elves shouted in alarm. It wasn't until a red rocket shot straight into Bunny's chest that they realized who the culprit was. Bunny yelled out in surprise at the impact and fell back, a shock of red falling with him in a tangled mess.

"Bunny, are you alright?" Jack asked and went to help the Spirit of Easter up.

"Oh, her eyes are so pretty!" Tooth exclaimed.

The Guardian to-be that the two had brought in was next to Bunny on the floor looking up at Tooth. Her eyes were like the multi-colored feathers that adorned Tooth herself. They were a deep viridian green with rings of violet and specks of gold and blue. Both orbs gazed up at Tooth in utter amazement and wonder much like a child. Her red hair was brighter than a cherry and contrasted with her lightly tanned skin and black clothes.

"What is your name child?" North moved toward her slowly so as not to startle her.

She turned to look at him and her eyes widened even more. Jack thought her reaction to the group was amusing. Sandy hit his leg lightly when he started to laugh and he quickly sobered up.

A surprised shout came from the Yetis and the Guardians were surprised when Phil scooped up the female spirit up in his arms and showered her forehead and cheeks with kisses. She shrieked in surprise but wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You know this Sheila, Phil?"

Phil just nodded. "_This is Sparrow." _There was a pause and then he growled. "_You didn't put her in the sack did you?"_

"You know tradition."

Phil growled in anger and turned to leave with Sparrow still in his arms. His plan didn't go as he thought when she teleported herself out of his arms and next to him. The Guardians took a step back at the wolf ears that adorned her head and the tiger tail that flicked lazily behind her. Sparrow tugged on Phil's arm and he seemed to get the message.

_"Come with us."_

The cool thing about being a Yeti was the North provided homes for his workers and their families. It was something all the Guardians did for their helpers but Sparrow didn't think there was anywhere more grand that the place that all Yetis lodged. It was a large domed area that helped shield most of the harsh cold of the north but still a pleasantly winter wonderland inside.

The Guardians followed Phil and the petite spirit through the town like set up until they reached a home with a Yeti hard at work with decorating. Sparrow made an excited yip before dashing through the snow and into the arms of the Yeti who turned just in time.

_"My wife, Joy."_ Phil introduced.

The female Yeti came with spirit in tow and kissed her husband. "_Why are Guardians here?"_

_"They put Sparrow in the red sack."_

Each Guardian felt a distinctive chill from the gaze Joy gave them. Whatever the sack had to do with it, they knew they'd be finding out soon. They all filed into Phil and Joy's adorable little home and watched as Sparrow made herself right at home.

"Not first time here?" North questioned.

Phil shook his head and laughed at the squeal torn from Sparrow when Joy gave her a bowl of strawberries.

"Strawberries?" Jack was surprised as much as the others by his outburst.

"Where did you get strawberries?" Tooth looked genuinely curious.

Sparrow sat cross-legged in Phil's big armchair as the others settles on the other seating in the room. Phil lifted her up before sitting down and setting her in his lap while she seemed un-phased by the action.

"So what's the story mate?"

Sandy made a question mark when neither Yeti made a move to speak. A few awkward shuffles later and Joy finally broke the silence.

"_I hope you know I will never trust you with my baby ever again."_

"Baby? Why Yeti have human child?" Confusion was evident in North's voice.

"It's obviously not their biological child. They seemed to have adopted her as their own." Jack teased the big man.

Phil nodded. "_We adopted her as our own after a couple weeks of discovering we couldn't have children. Sparrow seemed to pop up out of nowhere but we love her to pieces."_

"What does this have to do with sack?"

_"When she panics, she can cause to those around her without meaning to. Her mind goes somewhere else and she reacts purely on instinct- usually to regret it later. One thing that pulls that out is being trapped or in space spaces."_

The familiar tinkling of Sandy's signing made them look at him in curiosity. Above his head was an image of Sparrow, an equal sign, and another image of Sophie Bennett. He was comparing her actions to that of a child the Guardians would protect. The other Guardians had to agree that she was acting very similar to the lovable girl who constantly went "hop, hop, hop."

_"It's been a while since we've last seen her." _Joy admitted, like that would reveal some long lost secret and help the Guardians understand.

"Wheredid she come from? Whyis thisourfirsttime hearingofher? Howoldisshe? Whyisshe revealingherselfnow?" Tooth fired off so many questions at once the others almost didn't catch them.

Sparrow herself jumped off Phil's lap and grabbed a pad of paper. With a neat flourish of swirls and loops she wrote out each answer to Tooth's questions.

Don't know.

I didn't want other spirits to know I existed.

I'm almost 850 years old.

I didn't really have a choice. MiM did it.


End file.
